All 1980s Limahl hair and skinny limbs, Neymar continues to thrive in his home country. This superb goal for Santos in their 2-0 victory against Flamengo last night is another example of what the 20-year-old is capable of. Question is, would he live up to the hype in La Liga, Serie A or dare I say it, even the Premier League? (BTW, any mentions of rainy Tuesday nights in Stoke will be severely punished by Pies’ cliché police division).

He would do well in Spain, especially since (slide) tackling is much less prevalent there than in EPL or even Serie A. He’s not the biggest guy so not having to worry about those tackles would be huge.

@joe
I see him developing as Robinho. He has been gifted with incredible talent, but his “work ethic” is miles behind Ronaldo’s. Ronaldo works his ass off in order to be the best in the world, both technically and physically. Robinho also was “the new Pele” when in Brazil and he was a massive player, at least technically, but lacked the discipline needed to succeed in Europe (and got unlucky to come to a Real Madrid where he was just one more guy and did not have the guidance Ronaldo had in SAF).
I can only see Neymar going to Spain. Think he’s much too fragile for English and Italian defenders.

I can’t wait for him to be manhandled in the EPL or Serie A (he’ll never go there). He will only go to La Liga where he can use his bullshit trickery and diving tactics to full effect. I think Joe nailed it: He will be another Robinho and perhaps grow up a bit when people don’t bow down to him like in Brazil and their overhyped methods.

@Sultan
“which includes games against Argentina / Germany / France / Netherlands,”. Neymar has 14 goals for Brazil: 1 against Germany, 1 against England (penalty) and 1 against Argentina (in 2 games). He didn’t score against Netherlands neither has he played against France. Score 2 against USA and Scotland and 3 against China.http://www.footballzz.co.uk/jogador.php?id=54814&op=statscompet
Most of his goals are in Brazil, where there’s no defense. And we’ve seen quite a few videos to prove he’s ‘protected’ by refs. If he goes to England he’ll be like Robinho or, at best, Nani (two ‘prima-donas’).
Again, if he goes to England or Italy he WILL get manhandled by defenders and start to think twice before any trick. And refs won’t fall for his dives, just tell him to ‘man-up’. I mean, just watch when Nani got his leg slashed by Carragher: the ref got it awfully wrong, but he’s got the fame to be a diver the ref thought all that reaction was just one more of his usual dives.